Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness
|logo= |developer= Frostfire Studios |publisher= Nintendo |genre = Turn-based strategy role-playing game |platform = Nintendo Switch |USA = March 12, 2021 |Japan = March 5, 2021 |Australia = March 19, 2021 |Europe = March 19, 2021 }} Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness (ファイアーエムブレム闇の後嗣 Faiā Emuburemu: Yami no kōshi, lit. Fire Emblem: Heir of the Dark) is a turn-based strategy RPG developed by Frostfire Studios and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. This game is the 17th installment of the series and is set to be released on the Nintendo Switch. The game will feature cut-scenes, full voice acting and be rendered in a three-dimensional, cel-shaded style. Background Hundreds of years ago, the continent of Bríatha was ruled by eight cruel manaketes known as the Fell Dragons who enslaved not only humanity, but also many of their fellow manaketes. After a century of mistreatment, the slaves rebelled. The rebellion initially fared poorly for the slaves, until eight humans wielding weapons made from the blood of a god appeared. Each hero left to confront a single Fell Dragon and each hero succeeded in killing their respective target. With their leaders dead, the forces of the Fell Dragons were soon defeated and their empire broken up. The eight heroes would then go their separate ways never to meet again, countries new and old would be founded or restored and most of the manakete population on the continent would emigrate north and found Sihai, the Land of Dragons. However, the Fell Dragons in death left behind a terrible legacy: their personal dragonstones which would later be known as the Fellstones. Decades would pass with nothing to disturb the newfound peace Bríatha enjoyed until a group of mages attempted to harness the power of seven of the Fellstones in an attempt to obtain immortality and powerful magic. Their attempt nearly destroyed the entire continent and were only stopped thanks to the intervention of King of Dragons, Tiamat. Fearing their power would be misused in Sihai, Tiamat instead gifted the stones to seven humans to be hidden. The first stone was hidden in the heart of a trap-filled pyramid in Ur. The second is safeguarded by a tribe of nomads from Scythia and never stays in one place for long. The third stone was hidden in Massalia and kept under the watchful eye of powerful priests. The fourth stone was given to the King of Alba and was hidden somewhere in the royal palace. The fifth stone was taken by the king of the recently united Heimat and hidden within a secret vault. The sixth stone was taken by an Archsage and taken to a magic academy in what would later become a city-state of Corsica. The seventh stone was taken to an island off the coast of Idenn. The eigth and last stone's location was lost after the death of its Fell Dragon owner, but is rumored to be in Fiana. Despite the immense power a Fellstone holds, most people would eventually forget of their existence over the centuries or come to believe them to be nothing but myth. Over thirty years before the start of Child of Darkness, a large force of humans known as the Fomoiri from the continent of Fomoria, invaded Bríatha. An alliance between Alba, Massalia, Corsica, Fiana and Heimat was formed to repel the invasion. While it took years of effort and the aid of several of the legendary weapons, the invading forces were defeated. However, Heimat had suffered many casualties that left its military severely weakened. This weakness was exploited by Alba, Massalia and Corsica who invaded and annexed much of Heimat's western territory. With a weakened military and a weak-willed Emperor, Heimat was unable to prevent this betrayal from occurring. Years later, prince Rudel of Heimat ascended the throne and became Emperor, despite being an illegitimate child, after the suspicious deaths of his half-siblings and father. With Rudel in control of Heimat, he slowly rebuilt its military and filled the country's coffers, swearing revenge on Heimat's former allies. Setting Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness is the prequel to Fire Emblem: Inheritors of Madness, set on the same continent 100 years before its sequel's events. Child of Darkness takes place on the continent of Bríatha, which is divided into roughly ten countries. The Kingdom of Alba, the Theocracy of Massalia, the Clans of Fiana, the Empire of Heimat, the plains of Scythia, the Cradle of Humanity Ur, the Mercenary Kingdom of Idenn, the Merchant States of Corsica, the Land of Dragons Sihai and the mysterious Island of Mist that is sometimes called Ogham. The game stars two main lord characters: the Sellsword Sanger and Princess Selene of Alba, the ancestors to some of the characters in Inheritors of Madness. The game is roughly divided into two segments: the first segment deals with Sanger meeting and rescuing Selene after her escort is killed by an unknown party and attempting to get her back to the royal palace safely. The much longer second part deals with Sanger and Selene's efforts at repelling an invasion by Emperor Rudel from the neighboring country of Heimat and its allies. Many characters would make an appearance in the next game in their older forms, including Macha, Vedmak and Kara. Several characters who are ancestors to those in Inheritors of Madness are also playable characters. Story Gameplay Combat Similar to the other games in the series, Child of Darkness is a turn-based strategy RPG where players move characters around a grid-like map in order to complete certain objectives, such as capturing a castle, killing a boss or having all characters retreat from the map. The story is divided into chapters while story elements are told through animated scenes with portraits of the characters in addition to cut scenes that are present at certain points in the story. Players are given the chance to save after the completion of each chapter, as well as an autosave feature in the event that the console turns off for any reason. Each unit has their own stats in 8 categories: HP, Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed, Defense, Resistance and Luck. Combat or healing abilities depend on a unit's stats and can provide advantages if certain categories are higher than an opponent's. Like most other games in the series, Child of Darkness follows a rock-paper-scissors mechanism known as the weapon triangle. In this triangle, swords beat axes, axes beat lances and lances beat swords. There exists a similar mechanism for magic known as the trinity of magic where anima beats light, light beats dark and dark beats anima. In addition, weapons such as bows, daggers and staves exist outside of the weapon triangle and trinity of magic. Units All 45 units in Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness are divided into classes; such as the physical classes Fighter, Cavalier and Knight alongside magic classes such as Wind Mage, Troubadour and Shaman. A physical unit, depending on their class can wield weapons comprising of swords, axes, lances, bows and daggers while a magical unit depending on their class can wield anima magic (comprising of fire, wind and thunder magic), light magic, dark magic and staves (mainly for healing but also for inflicting status ailments). Weapons and magic possess different levels of mastery, ranging from E-rank at the lowest end to S-rank at the highest end. What weapons or magic a unit can use depends on what class they are in and no class can wield all weapons or magic. Like the other Fire Emblem games, units become more powerful by leveling up, which occurs when 100 experience points are accumulated. Non-promoted classes may change classes once hey have reached a minimum level of 10 with the aid of items such as Master Seals. However, Master Seals are not required to change classes as units will promote upon reaching level 21. Supports In Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness, the level of support between units is determined by how many chapters they have participated together. The level of support is measured with three ranks. C-rank is the lowest level and corresponds to one conversation, B-rank is the middle level and corresponds to two conversations and A-rank is the highest level at three conversations. Each unit also possess an elemental affinity and support bonuses will depend on the affinity combination between both units. To obtain support bonuses, characters must be within three spaces of each other. In order for support levels to increase, characters must be deployed in the same chapter and for each support increase, a go conversation occurs. However, conversations will occur at the base before a chapter starts instead of on the battlefield. Each character can only have one A-rank support, but may have as many B-rank supports as they wish so long as they reach the required number of prerequisite chapters deployed together. Returning Features Characters Playable Characters All 45 playable characters are recruited in various ways. Many characters are recruited automatically as the story progresses, while others are done through visiting a village on specific chapters. Other characters are more tricky to recruit and may require special conditions such as talking to them with a specific character or by purchasing their services with gold. Major Non-Playable Characters Chapters Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness/Chapters Classes Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness/Classes Downloadable Content There are currently two sets of DLC planned. The first set will feature maps that expand on character's relations with one another as well as provide items that grant access to alternative classes. The second set will be more story based and will focus on Emperor Rudel's past. Trivia *Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness is Frostfire's first game developed and first Fire Emblem game. *Irish, Slavic and Mesopotamian mythology contribute to many of the names found in the game. Category:Fire Emblem Games Category:Nintendo Switch Games Category:Role-Playing Games Category:Strategy Role-Playing Games Category:Prequels Category:Fire Emblem (series)